A father-son team in the UK is planning a circumnavigation in a 90 per cent scale Supermarine Spitfire MK26b to raise funds for the International Children's Heart Foundation.
38-year-old private pilot Justin Collins and his 16-year-old son Thomas will be embarking on their ‘Spitfire World Challenge’ to raise funds for the International Children’s Heart Foundation, which along with London’s Royal Brompton Hospital helped Thomas overcome complex congenital heart disease at birth. Thomas was born with major congenital heart defects and as a baby had to endure seven operations on his heart just to keep him alive.
To show his appreciation to the International Children’s Heart Foundation, which provides life-saving care for children in developing countries throughout the world, Collins came up with the idea to help them by raising money through flying.
“I came up with this idea one rainy morning while flicking through an aeroplane magazine at my local flying club,” he explains. “I had this crazy idea to do it by flying round the world in a Spitfire! One small problem, though: I didn’t have the money for an original one – they cost millions! Then, by pure chance, I turned the page of the magazine and stumbled on a story about a new company that’s started making 90 per cent scale versions. It was fate.”
The 90 per cent scale Spitfire the pair will be making the flight in is from Supermarine Aircraft, an Australian company that recently shifted its operational base to a factory in Texas. Says Collins, “The aeroplane looks awesome, as you'd expect. And it’s incredibly powerful, its 450bhp V8 engine has that spine-tingling Spitfire growl.”
Planning to depart England in May 2012, Justin and Thomas intend to cover around 30,000 nautical miles, taking in, amongst other countries, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emerates, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Chile, Peru, Bahamas, USA, Canada, Greenland and Iceland. In the countries where the International Children’s Heart Foundation has provided support, they’ll be taking some of the children who have benefited for a local flight, and they hope to raise £1,000,000 for the foundation by the end of their mission.
To find out more about the Spitfire World Challenge or to make a donation click here, or to email Justin some words of advice or support, click here. And to read more about the work of the International Children’s Heart Foundation click here. CAPTION: Justin Collins (left) and his son Thomas (right).
The 90 per cent Supermarine Spitfire MK26b that Justin and Thomas will take around the world.
